Her Light to His Shadow
by Ladii-Chocolate
Summary: [SasuHina, NejiIno, NaruSaku, KakaKure] She was the light to his obscurity, and he was the shadow that always protected her...but adversity can tear even the subtlest of affections apart.
1. An Announcement

**Author's Note:** Welcome to the Sasuke/Hinata fic _Her Light to His Shadow_. Although this story will primarily be based on Sasuke and Hinata's relationship, it will include other pairings in it, too: Naruto/Sakura, Shikamaru/Ino, and Neji/Tenten…and **maybe** one more (I'm still debating whether I should include some this couple…but you shall soon see who this mystery couple is if and when I reach a verdict). And while I did say that the genres were romance and angst…_HLtHS_ will also incorporate suspense and humor into its plot. I _am_ usually a romance and humor writer, after all, but have delved into dramatic romance lately.

**Information You Might Need:** This fic is a bit different than the Naruto storyline, yet it still retains some of its characteristics. I have decided to distort the story a little. You will learn more if you continue to read the story, but as for now, know that Sakura, Sasuke, and Naruto are now chuunin, as are the other former junior ninja from Konohagakure.

The setting takes place well after everyone (yes, all the genin pass…the first change in the storyline) passes the Journeyman Ninja Selection Exams. Pertinent characters include: Uzumaki Naruto, Uchiha Sasuke, Haruno Sakura (Kakashi's team); Yamanaka Ino, Nara Shikamaru, Akimichi Choji (Asuma's team); Hyuga Hinata, Inuzuka Kiba and his dog Akamaru, Aburame Shino (Kurenai's team); and Rock Lee, Hyuga Neji, and Tenten (Gai's team).

I may switch the way the chuunin refer to their jounin instructors from time to time. For example, I may have Naruto say, "Kakashi-sensei!" one minute, while having Sasuke or Sakura call him "Master Kakashi" at a later time.

Also, you'll notice that the thoughts a character may have throughout the story are bolded. Sakura is the only exception. Although her thoughts will be bolded as the others are, Inner Sakura's voice is bolded and italicized. Think of it this way: Sakura's thoughts are bold; Inner Sakura's are bold and italic.

**Summary:** (SasuHina) She was the light to his obscurity; he was the shadow that always protected her – but adversity can tear even the subtlest of affections apart.

**Disclaimer:** I do not own any aspect of Naruto. All components belong to Masashi Kishimoto.

**Dedications:** This fic is dedicated to my most favorite sisters in the world: Garowyn and DBZAngelX, and to my eternal (though obsessive it may be) love of the Sasuke/Hinata pairing! And don't forget the other diehard S/H fans - this is for you!

**Inspiration:** _"Hinata will be Sasuke's light, and Sasuke will be the shadow to protect Hinata."_ –SasukexHinata Fan Club signature; _Never Say Goodbye_ by JoJo, _Use My Shoulder_ by JoJo, _Homeboy_ by JoJo, _By Myself_ by Linkin Park, _Crawling_ by Linkin Park, _Forgotten_ by Linkin Park, _Figure.09_ by Linkin Park, _Bring Me to Life_ by Evanescence, _My Last Breath_ by Evanescence, _Lies_ by Evanescence, _Whisper_ by Evanescence, _Every Heart_ by BoA, _Anywhere_ by Evanescence, _First Love_ by Jessa Zaragoza, _Final Distance_ by Utada Hikaru, _Waiting_ by BoA and _Dreaming of You_ by Selena.

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_**Her Light to His Shadow**_

**_Chapter 1: _**An Announcement

_Water and oil don't mix._

It was a phrase Haruno Sakura had since learned and plastered into her memory many a year ago – to tell the truth, it wasn't such a difficultly for her to understand anything regarding the sciences.

But it was only recently - right after she'd proudly graduated as a genin from the Academy and was placed in a three-man cell with two other alumnae, in fact - that she realized water and oil weren't the only materials or substances that refused to blend.

The very same thing could be said about the newly frustrated chuunin's teammate and ally, an overenthusiastic Uzumaki Naruto.

She stood in the midst of her team's training field, hands on her hips, and a livid scowl plastered so appropriately on her attractive facial features. The frown only seemed to magnify in size as she glowered at the way the blond impatiently paced back and forth around the empty field. Was he _trying_ to irk her this morning? Master Kakashi, their _sensei_, had instructed them to meet him here the minute the sun peeked out from the night's murkiness, and as expected, he was nowhere to be found.

It was quite the norm for something like this to occur, of course, so she needn't have been so easily aggravated. But what troubled and confused the pink-haired _kunoichi_ to no end was the puzzling absence of a certain other teammate…

She shut her emerald eyes in a soft, fluid motion, currently in a vain attempt at calming herself down. It wouldn't do to have her, an esteemed _shinobi_-in-training, openly express such emotions as annoyance and antipathy to someone who was hardly deemed to be worth all the stress. **'Ignore Naruto, Sakura. It's the only thing you _can_ manage to do for now if you plan to have a long, fulfilling marriage with-'**

But try as she might have, she couldn't deliberate on the nonappearance of the boy she'd been sweet on for the majority of her adolescent life. And if she couldn't think about _him_…something was dreadfully wrong with the situation. She forced her eyes open immediately and scowled at the fox-like boy, who was currently trying to divert his attention by digging up the blades of grass that grew beneath their feet. "_Naruto_! Quit _moving_!"

Said chuunin gazed up at her in ire from where he sat near her feet. "What's wrong _now_, Sakura? You said to stop eating my breakfast because I was chewing too loud, so I stopped. You said to stop jumping around because I was making you dizzy, so I stopped. You said to stop walking back and forth in the same spot because I was killing the grass, so I stopped. What's your reason this time?"

Fists clenched by both sides, the dangerous gleam in narrowed jade eyes informed him that she was considering hitting him. He never had gotten along with those excruciating blows and pummels of hers, and now he was beginning to indisputably agree with what she'd said in the first place – it was far too early for him to be displaying so much action and exuberance. "Naruto…just sit there and blink - maybe even _breathe_ a few times when you need to. It won't kill you to do that, right?"

He snorted in response to her seemingly polite request, but was secretly relieved that she'd held back from her attack. "Whatever." He lay back on the exhumed roots and examined the pale blue skies above, an uninterested expression scrawled without much effort on his fierce facial features.

Hmm…maybe she was being a bit harsh on him. Sighing in reluctance, she relaxed her hands and shut her eyes again. This time, all that met her ears was…immobility, save for the occasional faint rustling of the grass created by the waning spring breeze.

At that juncture, Naruto averted his blue eyes to visually inspect his companion in cautious silence. He hadn't been able to catch her like this in such a long time…and studying her full, rosy cheeks, he quickly recognized the face of one that was carefully emptied of all emotion, discerning a person rigorously schooled in the strict tenets of duty, discipline, and tradition. Involuntarily, however; he also took note of the enticing curves of those nice, slim thighs of hers…and instantaneously directed his gaze back to the sky, a dark blush reddening his cheeks in an impressive manner.

Once he'd fully recovered from that confrontational assault of his hormones, he released a small sigh neatly laced with longing, his usual triumphant smile now dripping with slight melancholy and dejection. Although he'd always expressed his deep affection for Sakura since they'd first met at the Academy, she had always responded with repugnance and candidly articulated the possession of a profound odium for him.

'**Besides,'** he now groused inwardly, sitting up and glaring at the individual that was steadily approaching the two, **'all she ever thinks about…all _everyone_ ever thinks about…is-'**

"_Sasuke!_" Sakura literally forced her eyes open upon sensing him, taking in the very sight that was otherwise referred to as the angst-ridden, fearless chuunin who was also her teammate. Her quiescent senses were instantly stimulated from their previously inert state as she eagerly perceived the expressionless stare, the way he carried himself, the deadly self-satisfaction that came from absolute confidence – all were combined with the frightening indifference and predatory calm that made up Uchiha Sasuke. Her cheeks colored unquestionably – from that distance his current gaze made her feel…kind of _hot_.

Naruto noticed the way in which her hands had involuntarily clasped together in delight as she gleefully welcomed their team partner. "It's always about Sasuke, isn't it?"

Sasuke chose not to question why Naruto had been laying on an area covered with filth, or why Sakura was giggling girlishly and indulging in creating little coquettish poses. He paid no mind to the latter's nonsensicality and sat at the foot of a towering oak tree, where he, as Sakura had done prior to his appearance, shut his eyes in an attempt at concentration. An unnoticeable scowl made its way onto his facial features as he felt the presence a certain _kunoichi_ a little too close for comfort. He opened his eyes again and glared up at Naruto. "So…I'm going to assume that he hasn't told either of you why we're meeting."

"Nope," Sakura shrugged in Naruto's stead, fluttering those divine rosy eyelashes of hers in his direction lovingly. It didn't matter if Kakashi-sensei was a billion light-years behind schedule…as long as _he_ was with her, she would wait an eternity and a half. "Would you like some breakfast, Sasuke?" she now asked fondly, reaching into her backpack and unearthing a few wrapped sandwiches in it. "You probably didn't get to eat anything this morning, you poor thing…so I didn't eat some of them."

He raised a dark eyebrow in slight curiosity – it seemed to fascinate him to no end how bad a liar she was in actuality. "…I thought you were on a diet. Why would you be eating breakfast in the first place?"

An irate Naruto bristled. "I'll tell you why! I gave her those sandwiches earlier…those are _mine_! And there's no way _you're_ eating _my_ hard work… You make your own food!"

"Shut up, Naruto! You gave them to me, so logically, they're mine now! And if I choose to give 'em to Sasuke…that's just what I'm going to do!"

Pause. Rewind. Naruto smacked his head, replaying the situation in his mind. An hour earlier, Sakura had pretended to be positively famished from the evening before, and on that account, he'd willingly (and foolishly) shared his food with her. "You did that on purpose!"

She smirked triumphantly, holding her abdomen inconspicuously while she challenged him. "And if I did?" **_'Hey, you were askin' for it, buddy! Maybe next time, you'll learn to ask a lady if she's hungry before you start eating your food!' _**No, she hadn't been lying when she'd told him that she was nothing but a starved body at the moment. She'd just intended to sacrifice her hunger for Sasuke…hell; she'd sacrifice everything she owned for the sake of that gorgeous boy.

Cut that first part out. She was a love-starved soul…and that was worth much more than any old piece of bread any day. Sasuke was what she required to fill the void that was currently co-existing within her…Sasuke was all she needed to put the last touches on her existence in this world.

"Never mind, Sakura," her future husband smoothly intervened. "If it's made by _him_…I'd rather go hungry than risk everything on one bite of that trash."

Her hostile expression melted into a kinder one as Naruto indignantly released a string of obscenities. "Y-You sure you'll be okay?"

He nodded once in affirmation to her question, and then frowned as he felt the warmth of human flesh against his own. "I'm fine, Sakura…and if you'd take your head off my shoulder and your hands off my arm, I'd probably be even better."

She instantly reddened and removed her head from where it had been resting on his shoulder. Releasing her grasp on his arms – those strong, firm arms – in hesitance, she smiled sheepishly. "Oh, I'm sorry!" **_'Darn it! It was too soon!'_**

"…Sorry about what, Sakura?"

All three chuunin glowered at the man who had posed such a question, taking in his familiar inexpressive, impassive gaze. "You're late again, sensei! Can you even begin to fathom how long we've been waiting for you?"

Kakashi shrugged in apathy, his face just as unreadable as it usually was. "My neighbor happened to be working on some broken shutters on his upstairs windows today. I didn't want to have to walk under a ladder – you know, bad luck – so I opted on taking the long way here."

For having to wake up with the sun this particular day, Naruto and Sakura, were, needless to say, naturally teed off.

"YOU USED THAT ONE TWO WEEKS AGO! YOU THINK WE FORGOT!"

"AND WOULD IT KILL YOU TO AT LEAST APOLOGIZE!"

Kakashi made no attempt to act contrite or express regret for his lack of punctuality. He instead pointed rudely toward Naruto, making an indication of where Sakura sat by Sasuke. "Jokes aside…go sit with your teammates, Naruto. I have something important to say…something that may play a significant part with your future career as a full-fledged shinobi."

Still grumbling dispiritedly under his breath, the shortest chuunin of the group settled down near Sakura and Sasuke and listened lackadaisically to what their instructor had to tell them. Whatever it was…it'd better be good. He wasn't planning to leave this field – the same place he had spent almost three and a half hours lounging about with Sakura and waiting for his sensei's appearance – without hearing at least a few things pertinent to his success as a shinobi.

Sakura was still stuck on what had transpired a few minutes earlier to catch wind of Naruto's inability to keep stagnant for long. **_'He still didn't even say sorry!'_**

Kakashi cleared his throat loudly, dissipating her thoughts along with anyone else's. "I want you to listen, and listen well. If you don't…well, it's not my problem if you completely miss the entire point of this, is it?" When no one answered him with a direct response, he continued. "To cut a long story short…I need you all to be present here this time tomorrow. And that's all the information I can tell you, unfortunately."

The pink-haired girl blinked twice in astonishment, and for a few seconds, great resentment at the irresponsible jounin. So what was the purpose of them meeting him today? "And why is that, Kakashi-sensei?"

"Orders from powers higher than my own," he said with an accustomed shrug. "And next time, you _really_ shouldn't endeavor to deceive any of your teammates, young lady. That evokes unnecessary trouble sooner or later, and we all know we don't want that… And by the way, be prepared to see your fellow chuunin at the meeting tomorrow. The gathering's just something we'd like to hold based on our concerns about you and your respective strengths and weaknesses. 'Course, I can't say much more than that…so, until tomorrow!"

His miniature speech provoked Sakura and Naruto to agree that tomorrow was probably destined to be the most insufferable day of their short lives. Who really wanted to see that blonde swine, Yamanaka Ino, again? And who actually wanted to hear her griping teammate (the idler known as Nara Shikamaru) whine about what the jounin were going to tell them? As luck would have it, Sakura was quick to agree on what Naruto had said at an earlier date and time – neither of them would know quite what to make of all the freaks that would be making themselves apparent the next day.

Sasuke concealed a small smirk. Those prattling annoyances were busy yapping their mouths off about something as trivial as petty rivalries…but tomorrow would prove to be interesting. He and his teammates had all undergone rigorous training and practiced strict and unrelenting ideologies – truth be told, he couldn't wait until tomorrow came. He'd get to experience how the other chuunin of Konoha village had progressed…especially those who were under the tutelage of Master Gai…

Kakashi was examining the Uchiha carefully, snapping him out of his reflections. "And before I leave…it won't do to have you late again, Sasuke. Try not to do it again."

Stunned, the young Uchiha opened his mouth slightly to produce an utterance of protests, but the jounin had already made his exit…unbeknownst to the unyielding _kunoichi_ and the town idiot, who continued to keep up their complaints on how they were going to loathe meeting their rivals once more, on how dorky Rock Lee and Master Gai were going to look…

They were currently in a bet regarding if Inuzuka Kiba was going to have his esteemed dog Akamaru accompany him, and how many assorted varieties of food Akimichi Choji would manage to sneak into his knapsack to snack on during the meeting's progression.

Sasuke closed his mouth. Some things were better left unsaid…and unlike Naruto and Sakura, he wasn't planning to boast about his accomplishments thus far as an established chuunin tomorrow.

He was going to surprise them all.

* * *

**Ending Note:** And thus ends the first chapter of _HLtHS_. A lot more humor than was expected – normal Naruto comedy. Please review…the more responses I receive, the more inspiration I get. And some of you may have caught sight of the first pairing in the story, right?No worries; Hinata will make her appearance next chapter.

**Ladii-Chocolate**


	2. Reunions, Complaints, and Bloody Lips

**Author's Note:** Wow. I'd just like to take the time to express my gratitude to all those who reviewed the first chapter. If you didn't notice already, _HLtHS_ is my first story outside my usual fandom (which would be Dragon Ball Z). I was pretty nervous about the general reaction to the first chapter, but needless to say, you have all made me more confident. Thank you – not only did I get reviews…but I received insightful ones!

If you were wondering about the couple that I said I might put in this story, it's KakaKure. Although I haven't exactly read that many K/K fics, I think they'd make a hot couple (in case you were wondering, I label my favorite pairings on their warmth to me – for example, ShikaIno may be a little cooler to me than NaruSaku, but I love both anyway). Anyway, it'll be a challenge getting _that_ pairing incorporated in this fic, but I will try my best.

Well, not that it matters. This is mostly SasuHina, anyway.

And also…I've decided that this fic is _slightly_ AU. After sitting and reflecting on my plans regarding where this story is going, I've realized that it is definitely going to stray from the factual storyline soon enough.

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Naruto. I also don't own Naruto's misunderstanding regarding Sakura in this chapter – it's an insinuation to the anime Dragon Ball.

**Dedication:** After reading a one-shot (a wonderfully fluffy NaruSaku one, might I add) that I requested from mI. ShOE…I've decided to add her to the dedicatee list. Love you lots, Shoey!

**Couple Inspirations:** _A.S.A.P._ by Utada Hikaru (NaruSaku), _Never Say Goodbye_ by JoJo (SasuHina), _Use My Shoulder_ by JoJo (SasuHina, NejiTen, KakaKure), _Homeboy_ by JoJo (NaruSaku, ShikaIno), _First Love_ by Jessa Zaragoza (SasuHina), _Every Heart_ by BoA (SasuHina), _Movin' On Without You_ by Utada Hikaru (NaruSaku, KakaKure), _Lies _by Evanescence (SasuHina), _Anywhere_ by Evanescence (SasuHina), _Final Distance_ by Utada Hikaru (SasuHina) – and more soon.

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_**Her Light to His Shadow**_

**_Chapter 2: _**Reunions, Complaints, and Bloody Lips

The sun had not yet risen.

The only sound, apart from the hoot of a black owl perched on a branch outside a window and the soft breathing inside, was the creaking in worn bedsprings protesting the weight of one slender body as it shifted fitfully.

Her body ached in a manner she did not mind. There was no doubt that her teammates would be just as sore and weary to top it off…why had their sensei subjected them to the cruelest and most brutal training session the day before?

"_Because you needed it, you three. Tomorrow, you'll be meeting the other chuunin at Team Seven's training field – I have no misgivings that those trained under Gai, Asuma, and Kakashi will have grown exponentially."_

Mussed locks, so dark blue that they might have been perceived as black, were sprawled every which way over crumpled pillows. Tired eyes groggily opening followed the approving dreaminess; dark lashes blinked before remaining still as she finally woke up.

She had but a single moment to stare disbelievingly at the unembellished clock that lay on the wall directly across from her bed.

…She was behind schedule. Kurenai-sensei would most undoubtedly be dissatisfied in her.

Pale, exposed feet soon found the cold wooden floor below her as she rose from the warmth of her bed, and she numbly strode to the nearest bathroom, disjointed thoughts never quite making it to her mouth.

**Meanwhile…**

A sluggish Sakura leaned against a streetlamp's pole, still extremely inactive at this obscure hour of the morning. She stifled an involuntary yawn while simultaneously rubbing at her eyes to keep herself awake. All the while, she inwardly speculated why she'd opted to wait for the appearance of that intolerable oaf affectionately known as Naruto in the first place.

Oh, she remembered what had transpired just the day before all too well. She had 'deceived' – according to the words of their sensei – her teammate just the day before, regarding the whole breakfast incident. She rolled her eyes, privately scoffing her decision to be a bit more polite to him. Why had she sympathized with him by offering to walk with him to their training grounds today? She recalled how he'd taken the offer with disbelieving ears, and scowled as she dredged up his undaunted delight at the prospect of just the two of them heading to their training field together.

But waiting for him wouldn't be so infuriating and unbearable had he decided to show his ugly face by now! **'Where _are_ you, Naruto!'** The insufferable lout probably didn't even remember what her offense to him had been in the first place, so why was she still waiting on an appearance that probably wouldn't come for another ten minutes?

Now fully awake, she blinked twice in bewilderment. There was no use expressing any sort of anxiety for Naruto…she was going to ruin her appearance for Sasuke in the process! Her hands automatically found themselves running through her full (although still shortened) pink tresses, and she grinned amidst her jittery state. She'd made sure to spend a little more time on her physical countenance this morning – after all, there weren't any training sessions today. She was allowed to dress in the most casual of garments, and she was permitted to doll herself up for the boy she loved.

But that wasn't the only rationalization for her to beautify herself. It was also a growing necessity, as she and everyone else around her grew older, for her to step up her game in her goal of somehow obtaining Sasuke to be her boyfriend…and later on in life, her husband. And she knew why it was an obligation for her to be in the limelight – swine were bound to be abundant in number at the chuunin meeting.

…Especially a certain blonde one.

"Sakura!" Someone's maddening voice snatched her away from her fanciful plots of the usual settling of scores. The smirk that had been plastered on her face just a few moments ago seemed to dissipate rather quickly as she now glowered at the rather exuberant blond who had finally elected to turn up. "What's up?"

Her green eyes twitching in obvious irritation, she allowed the troubling emotions of frustration and impatience to quickly overwhelm her. "Naruto…"

The sincerity of his smile faltered almost at once as he witnessed the changing in her facial features with an accustomed foreboding of what was to ensue. "Y-Yes?"

She instead met his veneer of dread with a nervous smile that graced her lovely features as they gradually fell into step with one another, heading toward the wooded area where the majority of their chuunin allies and rivals were most undoubtedly situated at the moment. "…How do I look today?"

Thoroughly obfuscated at the seemingly innocent question, a wary Naruto nevertheless complied while shooting worried glances at her as they stopped by a small junction in the midst of an empty road. "Um…like you always do?"

She eyed him silently for a single second before heading in the opposite direction of their training grounds, doing her best to stifle an irrepressible sigh all the while. Why was she under the ostensibly blind expectation that Uzumaki Naruto could abstain from being his normally clueless self for even a single moment? He was hopeless and incompetent in more ways than one, simply put, and although he'd shown in numerous ways that he could be depended on in the battlefield, Sakura couldn't help but experience an overpowering dread regarding what was to come once they re-met their fellow chuunin. "Never mind."

He allowed an impractical shrug to grace his presence, as was his nature, before doubling back and staring at her in clear uncertainty. "Uh, where are we going? We were supposed to take a _left_ at that intersection, but we took a _right_…" He scratched his head, sincerely at a loss for at least a guess for reasonable motivations for her actions, as she sought to avoid all eye contact necessary for an acceptable response.

"I _know_ that, Naruto," the pink-haired kunoichi finally started after an unbearable pause, a vivid blush already making its way onto the apple of her cheeks. She still kept her gaze facing forward, biting her lip in a vain attempt to refrain from flushing any more than she already was. "But what makes you think that I'm going to go to the meeting without Sasuke?"

The blond chuunin scowled heartily at his teammate, who merely kept up with the continuance of her aversion. Was it even that much of a surprise anymore, honestly? "I hope you know that I didn't make sandwiches today," he decided to tell her, his blue eyes narrowing at her in slight suspicion of any other plans she might have. "Just incase you were planning to pull off that same trick…I had ramen today!"

"No surprise there, Naruto." Her voice was cruel and indifferent of him, until she came under the troubling realization that he was suddenly gazing deeply into her face. Forgetting about her ploy of not making direct eye contact with him, she glared at him in uncertainty. "Just what are you staring at now?"

He was rather pleased at having noticed what she obviously wanted him to prior to her uncontainable outburst. A triumphant grin flaunted so perfectly on his features, he now asked her, "Why are your lips so red today, Sakura? Are you bleeding…?"

She instantly colored, applying all of her early-morning strength into the hit directed at his skull in all due promptness of his idiocy. "What's it to you!" She quickened her pace in order to be ahead of the now grumbling Naruto, looking a bit flustered at his rather unintelligent inquiry. She bit down on her tongue as she sought to refrain from any detrimental comments that might decide to suddenly escape from her mouth, almost feeling the coppery taste of her blood in the process.

But as the unlikely pair continued walking (the female still in a disconcerted state, and the male in a much more resentful, reproachful one), she was secretly glad that he'd noticed her decision of using cosmetics today. After all, if that goofball could pick it out so quickly, then Sasuke would definitely be able to.

'**Sasuke…'** She hoped Naruto hadn't caught the evocative sigh that forced its way out of her. The object of her affections had become so distant and detached from their group these days – it wasn't a rarity to see him walking by himself around town, looking aloof and even a bit confused at times. It was only a perceptive Sakura that could discern these horrifying traits in him; she could only hope that the degeneration of his moods wasn't due in part by that horrible Orochimaru.

Okay, so he'd made the wrong decision in practically opting to be manipulated by that serpent-like fiend. It wasn't such a puzzling enigma that he'd possessed a one-track mind when they'd first become teammates: he possessed a strong yearning to avenge those of his slain clan by killing his brother, Uchiha Itachi, the source of his grief and misery. Even Naruto was conscious in the fact (and even potentially feared) of Sasuke's unreasonable thirst for power…and as everyone now knew, the proud Uchiha was paying for his greediness in full: because of his unnecessary rush for 'unlimited' power, he'd been cursed with a harmful seal that would probably forever trouble him for the rest of his days on this Earth.

She felt nothing less than pity for him, but his new attitude was just another perplexity in itself. That curse seal hadn't stymied his mind and training habits for months now; so what was up with him? She certainly took pride of the way he now managed his Sharingan eyes so effortlessly; with all of that success hanging over his shoulders, was there any reason that provided him with a justification for his sulkiness? He rarely talked to her or Naruto anymore, and as yesterday had shown, he was beginning to pick up the rather horrible trait of tardiness. He was even hanging back on applying his full potential during training sessions, and Sakura couldn't help but wonder if Kakashi-sensei had been conscious of this as well.

She was only left to hope, in the deepest and most profound place in her heart, that he was okay and accounted for. He and Naruto were her teammates, and although the latter had proven to be nothing more than a bother, she'd grown to care for them in a way that her heart had not known prior to their formation as a team.

**In the meantime…**

A lone chuunin's laborious grunts rung throughout the sun's recurrent peaks on the horizon as he continued to punch and kick arduously at the considerably large slab of stone before him. Muscles taut from hours upon hours of backbreaking training, he never sought for a single moment of rest. Time was essential if he wanted to maintain and potentially increase his Taijutsu levels.

This was something he'd learned the hard way, he reflected in resentment, directing a rather cold glare towards his newly bloodied knuckles. Glancing at the gruesome sight in clear apathy of the sharp throbs surging throughout the wounded area, he disregarded the piercing pain and gore and merely resumed with his hazardous training session.

A few more seconds of punching at the stone, however, proved to be too much for the sixteen-year-old. He drew in a short, ragged hiss of pain as his right fist finally produced a significant crack within the bulky boulder; and when, gazing through the new division of the stone, he could perfectly see what the rock had previously blocked from his view starting a few hours ago, he wisely decided that he'd had enough personal training for one day.

…He'd been able to successfully split a boulder without applying Ninjutsu or Doujutsu in his method of doing so. Maybe, just maybe (at the moment, he was unwilling to express full confidence for anything), he would soon be able to obtain more control of his erratic chakra levels.

He stole a quick glower at his blood-spattered hands before endeavoring to find the nearest water bottle with the aim of rinsing them out. His extensive, laborious efforts for more power would prove useless if he were put against Rock Lee, that eccentric but formidable foe from Gai-sensei's team. Locating a bottle of mineral water seated near a timber bench in the usually barren Uchiha compound, the dark-haired teenager found his place at the wooden seat and proceeded to screw open the top of the bottle, angst-ridden thoughts stealing full control of his mind.

But why was he trying to perform menial tasks with Taijutsu when he could handle Ninjutsu or his doujutsu in a much more efficient manner?

…The only valid reason that would suffice these days was that the latter had really been troubling him during recent training gatherings, although his unfathomable pride and confidence would never permit him to admit it to the outside world. On every occasion that he turned his Sharingan eyes on with the intention of training with them, he'd discern the way that they'd consistently catalyzed the seal on his neck to begin irritating him again. Giving him a painful reminder of those errors of his that had transpired in the past, both implicitly and explicitly, that damned curse seal acted like a medium for the hindrance of his training. Upon turning his Kekkei Genkai off, he'd make another endeavor to utilize them with that unrelenting determination that he possessed, but each time he made an attempt, he'd almost feel compelled to shut them off again.

He hadn't used them for a few days now, because his inward torture had grown to the point where it was practically insufferable to train with them for more than a few hours. He could feel himself almost lagging behind Sakura's quick perception and Naruto's unlimited reserves of power. Yes, he was only human like the former was, but was it so much to work for the state of the latter?

So, to make up for his unfortunate decrease in chakra levels due to the large interference the curse seal played a significant role in, he'd been forced to take up other methods of offense and defense to survive. He was a shinobi, after all – a means of battle for his village. The only options he had in life were to kill or get killed, as his former teacher Iruka-sensei used to avidly remind his students. He wouldn't allow himself to be reduced to the latter without fulfilling his objective first.

Everyone, from the negligent Naruto of his own team to the insightful Nara Shikamaru of Asuma-sensei's team, was presently under the supposition that after all the lone Uchiha had been through these past few years, he'd finally settle on to giving up his goal of killing his brother. They deemed his unwavering ambition one of mere blindness, and probably thought him as one who wouldn't mind laying out the foundation of his grave at an early age.

They were shallow-minded fools. If anything, his experiences had only fueled the sooty flames of hatred he had smoldering within his soul. The familiarity of anguish and death had befriended him as a young child, and he would never forsake it until he had made it a permanent companion with a certain older sibling.

As long as that curse seal was implanted into his neck, yes, his death was imminent. It was fair enough in his eyes (after all, it had given him a stark exposure to the overwhelming unawareness of life that he never knew he had), but he wouldn't allow himself to go down without his brother.

As for his teammates…

He inhaled sharply as the frigid mineral water spilled from the bottle onto his open cuts. Sakura repeatedly took the pain to attempt to make him feel better in the only way she knew. He hardly deemed his bouts of moodiness justifications for her always wanting to lunge at or cuddle with him, so he generally sought to pay no heed to her. And as for that good-for-nothing fool Naruto…he was, in all probability, even worse than the infatuated Sakura and her neurotic ex-friend Yamanaka Ino combined. He could recall the first (and last, he might add) time the idiot had tried to ameliorate his random emotions.

"_Sasuke," a soft plead was heard echoing throughout the dark as the three chuunin embarked to their respective homes without their sensei, "what's wrong with you these days? Why won't you tell us what's bothering you? If you can't tell Naruto, at least say something to me-"_

"_For the hundredth time, Sakura, don't waste your breath on him," interrupted Naruto, who, as it seemed, had had enough of his teammate's futile requests. His only explanation for Sasuke's moodiness had been, "Instead of wanting to help him…you should pity him, the one who's supposedly a genius amongst his fellow shinobi but a total idiot when it comes to reality." He turned his back on both of his speechless teammates coldly, not caring if they even bothered to respond._

_After what seemed like an eternity, Sasuke was the first to find words. "…And what makes you say that?"_

_A horrified Sakura implicitly trembled upon hearing the enmity implied within his voice. Naruto was treading on dangerous ground. The silence about them pregnant with impassable solemnity, she merely awaited the reply from the blond chuunin with bated breath._

_Turning his head so that his side profile was evident, whisker markings on a tanned cheek seemed to daunt both the kunoichi and her obsession. "So you went to Orochimaru for some power to revenge and found that it wasn't the right way to do so. Big deal. It's no reason for you to act all grouchy and moody. The way you continue to keep sticking by yourself isn't going to help you, Sasuke. It isn't going to help anyone. So do everyone a favor and suck it up."_

_The finality of his voice hitting the other boy hard, he began to walk away at that moment, soon followed by a reluctant Sakura, who could not deny the logic that he had just addressed her with._

_Sasuke still stood after them, clenching his fists and debating what to do. Knocking that loud-mouthed moron down for his words was just shallow dressing for a deep wound that still burned._

…_He didn't understand. Hell, no one understood, and their ignorance was being exhibited in total by the town fool, Uzumaki Naruto._

_No one would ever understand._

Thinking back on his thirst for revenge, however, overrode the importance of the other two. His arsenal of weapons required major modifications. Now that he had a somewhat manageable mastery of Taijutsu, he needed to–

"Sasuke!" a familiar feminine voice rung throughout the Uchiha compound, and a visible scowl wrenched its way onto his countenance. What was Sakura doing here, when she was supposed to be heading over to the meeting at this time? How had she known that he was near the back of his house? And furthermore, why had she dragged that fool along? He glared at the zephyr-reddened lips that persisted to voice his name over and over again, noting how unusually crimson they were. Even if the breeze today had been as chilly as a December frost, her lips wouldn't be as cherry-colored as they presently were – what was she planning this time?

Someone else's current grievances were slightly more audible than Sakura's usual spouts of nonsense. Just great; Naruto evidently had something to add to all of this, as well. "Sakura, I hope you know that if we weren't late before, we're definitely going to be the last ones there now. We _really_ didn't have to make sure he was okay, you know-"

The pink-haired kunoichi could simply sense the green-eyed monsters of jealousy oozing from the shorter ninja's pores. It wasn't such a surprise for any guy to envy Sasuke, but the type of dangerous resentment she could sense from Naruto was enough for anyone to be put on edge. "Shut it, Naruto. If we're late, it's better that we do it together, as a team." Smoothing the lipstick on full lips in order to make the color more apparent and self-consciously patting down shortened pink hair, she beamed coyly at Sasuke.

What, did they actually think that he'd be touched that they actually endeavored to walk him to their training grounds? The proud Uchiha had recurrently exhibited his sinful traits to his teammates many times; today wouldn't be any different. "Spare me the sincerity, Sakura. Let's just go." Brushing brusquely past a wounded kunoichi and an adamant Naruto, an indifferent soul led them out of his compound and back onto the main road, where he permitted them to join his side once more.

Scratching his head in slight confusion and resentment of Sasuke's action to their now sullen teammate, cold blue eyes exacted themselves onto their target just as harshly as Sasuke had done with Sakura. "Don't you think you're going a little too far with all of this weirdness? She was just being her usual self; if it were up to me, I'd have left you behind ages ago. You can't suddenly despise someone you've known for years…someone who's been breathing the same air you have during missions-"

Droplets of saline despondency shining in those orbs like misted emeralds warned him to break off his last thought. "J-Just stop, Naruto…"

"No. Let him finish."

The tone of finality detected within dangerous tendencies only served as another caveat for the blond to wisely hold his tongue, but the dark-haired chuunin allowed what he had just uttered to sink into his psyche. _You can't suddenly despise someone you've known for years…_

Oh, did that fool _really_ think so? Allowing himself to glance over at his other team member and discerning her current state, Sasuke mentally questioned himself. Why was that one suddenly holding back tears? Any minute now, she'd go revel in her little melodrama of how she longed for things to go back to the way they had been before Orochimaru had entered their lives…he couldn't even begin to fathom just how long it take for her to wake up from that pitiful dream she called her life. Turning back to Naruto, he voiced his next statement severely. "I'm waiting, idiot."

Black-clad shoulders tensed in an attempt at retaliation before finally relaxing as the blond chuunin noticed Sakura as well. Clearly losing an inward battle of indecision, pale hands found themselves clenching tightly as he finally muttered an answer through gritted teeth. "I said to forget it, Sasuke."

"Why should I? Being the graduate who left the Academy dead last in the class, it's the most _insightful_ thing you've ever said to me-"

"Sasuke, Naruto…stop it. Please…" Now the distressed kunoichi was begging both of them, in the most beseeching voice she had utilized in months, to cease their pointless feud.

Naruto was the first to acquiesce to her pleads, but that was only because the fool still had feelings for her after all these years of being constantly put down and rejected, the Uchiha noted distastefully. He allowed a snide smirk to permeate through his features as they reached the familiar junction they usually used to go to the training grounds. "Next time you'll watch what you say, dunce."

Both Sakura and Naruto seemed devoid of words. They had given up on it a long time ago. But now, having experienced the former had given up on her optimistic thinking. Swallowing the painful lump in her parched throat and blinking back her tears as she glanced anxiously at the sullen Naruto beside her, she realized that he had given up, too – but he'd given up not on life in general, but on Sasuke as an entire entity.

She allowed no other emotions to circulate through her heart and mind as they neared the training grounds with each successive step, finally perceiving the many heads of their fellow subordinates already gathered there.

This - what had just come to pass between the three chuunin…it was their life story. To smile one second and cry the next was not a rarity to them anymore. Their whole existences revolved around wrongfully concealing their feelings from the other two – the same ones they were destined to be with and care for until they grew independent of the team and their sensei – and those around them. The only things in life that seemed to mollify Sakura's inward, biting pain were Sasuke, making fun of Naruto, and verbally fighting with her ex-friend; the only things that seemed to appease Naruto were Sakura and ramen; but Sasuke allowed nothing to ameliorate his detrimental situations. He felt that nothing could do so even if he tried with all of his might, and so he endeavored to do nothing to better his soul.

Clandestinely, they all sought to eradicate this ache they called living. Attempts to wrench the forlorn and inconsolable gloom from their souls with the kind of desperateness humanity was destined to carry for eternity hung over them like an irremovable shadow.

But they were completely oblivious to the fact that the ones who had caused them to wallow in the miserable grief were the same ones who had tossed them a kunai or shuriken in a particularly dangerous and perilous mission, or had allowed an encouraging smile to cross their lips in a time of hopeless situations.

They had sewn the threads of unalterable fate long ago, and it was now up to each of them to help the other two unravel it again.

Sea-green eyes were the first to gaze upon the daunting view of the three other teams already present at the field. "Oh, boy," she lightly tried to shake off the thoughts of her teammates as they walked into the area. "We're definitely picking up Kakashi-sensei's habits. That _can't_ be a good thing…"

Upon hearing the innocent statement, a head full of abundant blonde locks whipped around from where she was presently seated on the very same spot Sakura used to enjoy situating herself at. Narrowing sharp, blue eyes viciously as she sized up what had become to her competition, Yamanaka Ino wasted no time in addressing the other kunoichi with a blatant comment. "As if we haven't waited enough… The least you could do was to be on time in your own training field, forehead," she snapped.

Eying the deep crimson lips that had just uttered those deliberate exclamations in intense indignation, Sakura couldn't help but burn with anger. Temporarily forgetting about her tribulations with Sasuke and Naruto, one slim finger pointed rudely at its blonde target. "You're wearing the same lipstick as I am, you pig! _Why_?"

Leaving her two uninterested teammates behind, the flaxen kunoichi rose from her spot on the ground and smoothed down her attire. A quick hand pushed Sakura's finger away from her face as she replied wryly. "Isn't it obvious?" Catching the sight of a certain Uchiha standing near her rival, conversely, made her strive to exchange her biting tone for a sweet, loving one in its stead. Waving coyly and grinning all the while, a girlish purr was permitted to escape from her parted lips. "_Hi_, Sasuke. It's been a while, hasn't it?"

"Just leave him alone, you hog!"

Someone's petulant voice from behind them overrode the impending argument, breaking it off as quickly as it had been catalyzed by both Sasuke's appearance and Ino's lipstick. "If you two have finished with your arguments…" Rolling his eyes at a newly irritated Naruto with a jaded expression etched so adequately on his features, Nara Shikamaru motioned wordlessly at the silver-haired jounin that was currently situated beside Asuma-sensei and Gai-sensei before returning to his petty grievances against the world.

Kakashi didn't even endeavor to glance up at the suddenly ashen-faced three as they all made to meet him at where he sat with the two other jounin. A few pages of what could be perceived as awful pulp fiction were turned, before a long and biting silence ensued as Asuma and Gai eyed them disapprovingly.

"You're late…all three of you," he finally informed them in all due impassiveness, never once pausing from his novel. "Care to explain?"

They all instantly colored at the simple question, staring at their sensei guiltily before glancing at each other with wary looks. There was _definitely_ something dreadfully wrong with the circumstances if Kakashi-sensei had arrived at the destination before they had. What was going on here? Sakura had long since held and proposed many theories that perhaps the mysterious jounin wasn't tardy all of the time he _appeared_ to be – maybe, from a desirable distance, he furtively watched them wait aimlessly for him for a few hours before making his appearance (most likely to get a few kicks out of it). If those suppositions were true, then it would make plenty of logical sense why he'd been present before them…

They were suddenly indulging in playing the blame game by pointing fingers at each other, as was the general expectation from all three jounin present.

"Kakashi-sensei, I wouldn't have been late if Naruto had decided to show his face earlier…"

"Nuh-uh! It was all Sasuke! I knew we shouldn't have waited for him!"

"I don't know how many times I have to tell you, Naruto! _Never_ blame Sasuke!"

"Why are you defending him? He's the one who got us late!"

A harsh glower from the third teammate seemed to shut them both up. Glaring into curious eyes in a habitually unemotional face, an inflectionless tone said what he thought about the present state of affairs. "…Just leave it."

And drop it they did. Muttering resentful apologies to their sensei, Naruto and Sakura detached themselves from the group and went off to re-acquaint themselves with their fellow age-mates, while Sasuke still had his feet rooted to the spot. Dark eyes continued to bore into the eyes of the jounin with the utmost of animosity. "You weren't late today."

Three raised eyebrows informed him in a wordless message that the men present didn't seem to deem the clear-cut fact to be of that much significance. Casually removing the cigar that was almost always seen in his mouth, Asuma was the first to utter a response. "…And?"

Gai surmised that from the way the teenager was currently staring visual daggers at them, he would desire to speak with his sensei alone. "C'mon, Asuma. Now that Kakashi's kids are here, we can get this gathering over with." He led the other jounin away from the location, allowing instructor and student some time to address and discuss the so-called 'problem' with the situation.

Finally left to address his sensei with some newly found information he'd obtained from mulling over the incongruity of what had happened just the day before, biting scorn lined the Uchiha's tone of voice. "You weren't late today…just like you weren't late yesterday. Why?"

Eyes darkening and mouth (at least, the imprint of what was behind the jounin's mask) pressing into a thin line, Kakashi finally shut his book and stood up from where he had just been situated at. "I don't think that matters, does it? Go join your teammates, Sasuke. The meeting's about to start."

Sasuke's own threatening gaze ultimately subsided as he made up his mind to give in to the jounin's inexplicable actions. Fine. If his sensei wasn't going to admit that he'd been caught in whatever he was doing, he wasn't going to pressure him. At least, not now. "…Fine, then." He turned his back on the blank jounin and left the area, but not before catching the last remnants of what Kakashi had to address to him.

"And you might want to bandage those wounds, or at least have a medic-nin check them out. You'll get an infection."

With all due instinct, Sasuke directed a quick gaze at his reddened knuckles before whirling around violently. Forget about what he'd thought earlier. He wanted to know Kakashi-sensei's motives for his unfathomable actions today and yesterday, and he wanted to know right now-

It didn't take a genius to discern the fact that his sensei had quickly taken his leave.

**In the meantime…**

If one currently tuned his or her ears to the most popular discussion transpiring at the moment, they would have automatically picked up on Naruto's unreasonable boasts to two of his fellow chuunin. As the scene currently stood, the blond ninja had previously overheard Shikamaru and Inuzuka Kiba (the latter had brought his faithful dog with him, as Sakura had predicted; it looked like she was going to win the bet she'd made with Naruto just the day before) arguing on which one of them had improved their skills the most and had decided to take it upon himself to add his bit into the dispute.

"You're definitely not the strongest Konoha chuunin, Kiba," he now asserted, paying no attention to Shikamaru's snide attempts of trying to smother his laughter. "'Cause I am! You wouldn't believe how much training _I've_ done!"

Sakura, who had naturally followed him after exchanging her own bitter words with the fair-haired kunoichi of Shikamaru's team, struck him in the head yet again with a well-formed fist as soon as she caught on to the most convenient time. "Shut it, you fool! You haven't been doing _anything_ compared to Sasuke!"

He scowled darkly at her, using both of his hands to massage his wounded skull while Kiba and Shikamaru continued to repress their incessant amusement. What was wrong with her? Had she seriously forgotten that the same boy she was always standing up for and defending had just put her down only a half-hour ago? But he made sure not to go on her wrong side completely. Having experienced the same blows to the head over and over again, he'd developed an innate respect for the kunoichi's right hook. "Sasuke, this; Sasuke, that. Story of my freaking life!"

She didn't deck him for that last remark, much to his respite; instead she chose to reply with her own wry response. "Well, guess what, Naruto? He _should_ be!"

Unable to repress his mirth regarding what was transpiring, Kiba allowed himself to snicker outright. "I highly doubt that you're the strongest chuunin out of all of us if you're still letting girls control you after all these years…"

Shikamaru snorted derisively. "You mean you actually believed him?"

The blond and his green-eyed companion, however, had ignored what the latter had just uttered, reddening as what the wild chuunin had said sunk into their mindsets. "What the hell is _that_ supposed to mean?"

"Exactly what it sounded like, of course."

From her spot not fifty feet away from him, his sensei shook her head in slight disapproval as Naruto and Sakura's replies escalated into full-blown screams of indignation. Kiba was definitely going to get a severe talking-to later on regarding his view on femininity. One would think be under the assumption that after spending years training under the tutelage of a female instructor and alongside a female teammate, the kid would finally realize that kunoichi were just as capable as their male counterparts in missions.

Apparently not.

Yuuhi Kurenai looked up from what where she had been picking her nails in boredom. Crimson eyes sweeping over the remaining two subordinates that still stood near her, she finally uttered the first thing she'd said besides a mere 'Good Morning' earlier. "I'm guessing Hatake's kids are here now…"

Aburame Shino, the nearest of the two trainees, said nothing in response to her outward ponderings, as was his general temperament; but the girl standing next to him allowed a few more emotions pass her countenance.

Tendrils of midnight blue found their way cascading down the middle of her back; a few loose strands spilling randomly over slim shoulders. Long-lashed eyes adorably large and milky-white combined with a shy smile portended a lovely young woman in the making.

The apples of her cheeks instinctively reddened as a livid Naruto passed her revealed that other than in the physical sense, she hadn't changed much since the last time she'd seen her age-mates…

'**N-Naruto…'** Hyuuga Hinata couldn't help but revert back into her earlier stages of implicit infatuation as she witnessed his own change in features. The Uzumaki had grown a lot taller in the few years she hadn't seen him, and although he still retained his boyish nature, he'd gotten a lot more handsome, as well.

She turned around as he continued to stalk away from her rowdy teammate, with the sole intention of being able to secretly gaze at him some more before the actual meeting had actually started. She ended up making eye contact with someone she hoped to have never seen so soon. Her heart made a pitiful thud against her stomach, and she trembled implicitly, willing her fear to subside as soon as humanly possible.

No one had noticed where Team Gai had been located. Ostensibly, they'd been positioned at the edge of the training grounds, two of the three subordinates currently teed off at having to attend this gathering with their younger allies. The eccentric younger Gai-double, Rock Lee, had been looking forward to this reunion ever since their sensei had informed them about it, nonetheless; he'd eagerly awaited the appearance of the pink-haired kunoichi he'd dedicated his life to protecting years ago.

The sole female of the unit, Tenten, was presently disappointed in the turn of events. Having been the first team to make it to Team Seven's training grounds, they'd been thoroughly surprised to see no one present, needless to say. Now idly playing with one of the twin chocolate-colored buns that sat so neatly on her head, she wondered who her more serious teammate was currently glaring down.

A small pause was apparent before she finally discerned who Hyuuga Neji was eying so murderously.

"This is a waste of time…" the distant Hyuuga uttered maliciously at long last, milky eyes resting so intently on his younger cousin. Thoroughly disgusted about the way she visibly recoiled under his gaze, he averted his eyes to slightly better prey: Yamanaka Ino, who apparently had nothing better to do than search aimlessly for Sasuke. Having been caught in the act, she cringed and waved sheepishly at him. **'Bunch of inferior weaklings…why'd they put us with them?'**

"Not really," Lee blatantly argued, a wide smile displayed on his face as he finally caught sight of Haruno Sakura. "Aren't you excited about whatever this 'surprise' is?"

Revolted by the mere cheeriness detected within his voice, Neji endeavored to turn around to rightfully glower at his teammate, but the sudden presence of someone not so familiar prevented him from doing so. Stiffening and allowing a justified frown to cross his features, he spoke to no one in particular (at least, so it seemed to Tenten and Lee). "…Can we help you?"

The cool voice from behind them merely mimicked Lee's earlier comment. "Not really."

Tenten glanced warily at the ominous figure that had slowly become apparent within a few seconds. Wasn't that the Uchiha boy? What was he doing here, confronting-

Lee forced his way past both the kunoichi and the taller Hyuuga to view Sasuke properly. "What do you want?"

A light smirk graced the sixteen-year-old's face. "Nothing…at least, not yet."

"Then what are you doing-"

A loud _Poof!_ accompanied Gai-sensei's unforeseen appearance in front of the four chuunin. The hairy jounin placed a finger to his chin, scrutinizing each of the four inferiors carefully. "Hmm…I could've sworn I left here with only three of you. What's with this fourth one?"

A suddenly sappy Lee was about to act upon his role as the teacher's pet when Tenten sharply elbowed him, notifying him in a voiceless message that Gai-sensei was just kidding around. "He just showed up, sensei, but I think he was already about to take his leave," she provided the explanation. "Right, Sasuke?" She blanched as she realized that he'd disappeared almost as quickly as he had appeared.

Lee's impending frown deepened. "How rude."

Gai shrugged carelessly. "It really doesn't matter, you three. The meeting has begun. Let's go." Snapping his own fingers rudely as if to make sure his subordinates got a move on, he himself vanished just as abruptly as he had come into view.

**A few minutes later…**

Surprisingly enough, everyone from the inattentive Naruto to the overindulgent Akimichi Chouji had settled down on the soft, downy grass, waiting for the meeting to finally commence. As expected, an unfortunate Sasuke seemed to be surrounded by an abundance of neurotic girls, namely Ino and Sakura. As the scene stood, they both were engaged in a petty mini-brawl in which one of them was trying to secure her arm within Sasuke's own, while the other was trying her hardest to prevent it from happening.

When Asuma finally rose from his spot near Gai, Kurenai, and Kakashi to deliver a short speech, however, the restless talking and shifting ceased. He made no effort to properly introduce the situation, much to the distaste of both Gai and Kurenai. Bluntly speaking (and showing the more perceptive students that he'd only been addressed with the information recently), he uttered a few words before sitting down again. "To cut a long story short, kids, the Hokage seems to think that you all haven't been challenged enough so far as chuunin. And to add to that, it seems that most of you new shinobi have shown that you're practically ignorant regarding other cultures and ethnicities. So she's arranged for you all to go on a little two-year journey around the world, you know…to act as temporary bodyguards for towns and get introduced to new societies at the same time. So, sorry to have sprung this on you all, but that's just how the apple falls from the tree."

"But that wasn't how the meeting with the Hokage went, Asuma! You're leaving out _very_ important parts!" Kurenai protested.

"Would _you_ rather tell them the long version?"

She flushed and didn't reply, sullenly pointing at the pink-haired kunoichi who'd just raised her hand. "…Yes?"

"I don't know if I've caught all of this," Sakura started slowly, "but is this like a really major mission without you four acting as our teachers? Would we be going to different towns and protecting their civilians without your help?"

Kakashi nodded, receiving a mixed reaction from some of the other subordinates present. "We don't make the rules, you know. But I happen to think that this idea would be a beneficial one to all of you, both mentally and physically growth-wise. Anyway, you all shouldn't worry just yet. You're scheduled to go on this journey early next year."

"Why so far away?" Kiba butted in, absently stroking Akamaru. This actually seemed to be much more exhilarating than most of the missions he went on with Hinata and Shino…and even better, Kurenai-sensei wouldn't be with them once they left! They'd be in control of their own lives for once-

"Simply because you need as much time as possible to secure at least some knowledge regarding the outside world. Some of you have outstanding power, while others may have amazing smarts. But without some familiarity of the other towns and cities in the world, you're basically sitting ducks. And this doesn't mean just the customs and cultures of these new cities; we're talking about going the whole nine yards with this one."

Naruto visibly gulped. This didn't sound good at all. If what he was thinking of matched what Kakashi-sensei was about to say, then he was done for-

"Now, there'll be many courses for you to opt for, regarding numerous aspects of the environment and people you'll be meeting on your journey," the silver-haired jounin continued. A small pause ensued, before he looked sincerely stumped. "Let's see… Gai, do you have that list Kurenai made the other day? I can't find it for the life of me."

Said jounin raised one of his huge eyebrows in question, revealing the small paper from his pouch wherein Kurenai's neat, spidery writing adorned the page. "Something told me you wouldn't. Anyway, kids, the classes are as follows: General Grammar, History in Literature, General History, Chemistry, Physics, Biology, Algebra, Geometry, Calculus, Trigonometry, and General Languages." Pausing before he delved into the other electives, a satisfied grin graced his countenance as most of the students blanched in horror.

Neji suddenly frowned. "What does 'General Grammar' have to do with other countries?"

"Yeah," Ino piped up. "I guess I can see where the others would apply…mostly in the environment, like Kakashi-sensei said…but grammar?"

Kurenai smiled gently. "In some cultures, it's acceptable to use slang; while in others, you could get your tongue cut off for addressing someone with the wrong suffix or prefix. We wouldn't want that to happen, would we?"

A speechless Ino didn't ask any other questions.

Gai continued. "There will also be a Genetic Kekkei Genkai course for those subordinates of ours who possess said characteristics…and a Genjutsu Illusion course, a Ninjutsu Fighting Technique course, and a Taijutsu Physical Arts course. These are for those who struggle with the above jutsu, although we don't expect all of you to be well-rounded in all three. So generally, there'll be a select few of you under these courses. Asuma, you're up again."

A particularly indolent Asuma rose to his feet again. Sighing, he took the paper from the eccentric jounin and endeavored to read in what was not perceived as an interested tone. "Kakashi will be teaching the sciences. Kurenai will be teaching the head of the mathematics department. I will be teaching General History and General Languages, while Gai will be teaching General Grammar and History in Literature. For the Genetic Kekkei Genkai, Genjutsu, Ninjutsu, and Taijutsu special tutoring…we've all been watching your abilities progress through the time that we've known you. You will be notified on whether you need them or not."

"And here's your first lesson in what happens in other cultures. There'll be final exams!" Gai chirped cheerily. "Luckily for you, they're not like most schools' tests in other societies. Because there's just too many of you chuunin, you'll be put against one of your fellow team members in a match. Whoever wins will be able to go on the journey. And who knows? Maybe you'll be able to become jounin after you redeem yourselves in front of the Hokage."

Hinata looked a bit intimidated. This 'final exam' sounded a bit like what they had had to do to become chuunin in the first place. Was she really ready to go through all of _that_ again?

Conversely, this snatched the attentions of quite a few of the students present, including a previously disinterested Sasuke. This whole thing had seemed to be a ridiculous task that would prove annoying within the first few weeks of its implementation, but now that there was a chance, no matter how slim it might be, for him to become a jounin after returning…perhaps it wouldn't be so useless after all.

He knew he was doing the same thing he'd done with Orochimaru, but the idea of achieving his ambitions quicker than originally planned had already pasted itself into his philosophy of life years ago.

What Kurenai-sensei said next, however, brought his state of mind back to the present. "Well, you're all free to go, I guess. But please go home and think about which courses you'd like to take. You'll have to take at least four, so pick wisely. And I'd like to talk with Hyuuga Hinata, Hyuuga Neji, and Uchiha Sasuke before they leave."

Upon her dismissal of them, the majority got up and proceeded to leave with their respective sensei, many mixed emotions running throughout their minds. Within a few minutes, the entire training area had been cleared out, with the exception of an anxious Hinata, an indifferent Neji, and an apathetic Sasuke.

Kurenai seemed a bit daunted about the way Neji and Sasuke glared at her expectantly, but managed to compose herself well enough to inform them that they had to do a bit more extra work than the others. "I've been talking with your sensei lately, you two. Since I train Hinata, I know her strengths and weaknesses, but both of your teachers would like you to attend some bloodline technique-strengthening classes. I'm supposed to give you these index cards," she waved three small cards at them. "I guess that after you read them over, you can leave." She handed each doujutsu handler their respective card, and awaited their initial reactions.

Hinata stared at her note card, creamy eyes reading it carefully. _'Hyuuga Hinata: You have wonderful potential, but your bloodline technique needs some more work on mastering. Please meet Kakashi-sensei at three o' clock each day.'_

Sasuke glowered at the crimson-eyed jounin before turning his back on both Hinata and Neji and preparing to leave the training grounds. "He did it on purpose, I bet." _'Uchiha Sasuke: Time and time again we've all been exposed to the powers of your prestigious Uchiha clan…but you can do much more with your Sharingan eyes than what you use them for. Please meet Kakashi-sensei at three o' clock each day.'_

Neji scowled implicitly upon reading his own note, crumpling the card within his grip before leaving as well. _'Hyuuga Neji: You have amazing mastery on your Byakugan…but you need to share your capabilities with others in your clan. Please meet Kakashi-sensei at three o' clock each day.'_ His scowl only grew deeper as what he'd just read sunk into his mind and replayed itself over and over again. They wanted him to train his cousin, a highly unlikely thing.

The two boys left within a few minutes, leaving a troubled Hinata in their wake. She allowed the monsters of indecision to paralyze her…how did she really feel about training with her cousin and Sasuke?

She already knew how Neji would regard her during their training sessions.

But…how would Sasuke, someone she'd never really associated with before, act?

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**Ending Note:** The second chapter's complete! Please be as wonderful as you all were last chapter and review! I was so pleased when I read all of last chapter's reviews, but I want to say that this update has been the most special for me. Exactly a year ago, on December 2, 2004, I joined this website as an aspiring fanfiction writer. I'm just so happy with all of the love and support that everyone has given me.

Gee, I really want to do something for you all…

…I think I know what I'll do! I'm offering either some graphic art that I recently made **or** a written freebie (you may pick a scene featuring **one** of the featured pairings, besides SasuHina, in this fic) for this story if you reviewed last chapter. You may pick only **one** of these two options, so if you're interested, please leave your email address and your preference and I'll handle the rest. I really want to show my gratitude to you all; and what better way than this?

This offer ends by the time the third chapter comes out, and I hope it'll come out before my birthday. XD (Er, by the way…if you do opt for the graphic art selection, just know that I am not so brilliant in that department. I don't have Photoshop, but I'll try my best.)

**Ladii-Chocolate**


	3. Classes with Whom?

**Author's Note:** Thanks for all of the reviews, everyone! They were all very lovely…but I got some comments that I'd like to address to all of you. First of all, there will be no SasuSaku or NejiHina (in case you were wondering if there would be a SasuHinaNeji love triangle because they're all training together) in this fic. Just SasuHina, 'kay? And Ino may have been fawning over Sasuke last chapter, but that's because that's her nature. There will be no SasuIno in this fic; just ShikaIno. And there'll be NejiTen, as well.

Apropos, someone also asked if Neji was going to be cruel to Hinata in this fic. Well, I don't want to spoil parts of the plot for you, but in the beginning, he'll generally hate her. But as Kakashi will say in this chapter, he'll live to regret it.

**Dedications:** I never stop, do I? Let's stay _Bold & Delicious_ forever, **Jules** and **Ishy**, because _HLtHS_ is dedicated to you two, as well as **Shoey**! Love the _Violet Sauce_ forever! (Sorry, the song references are inside jokes. Ayumi Hamasaki and Namie Amuro rock.)

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Naruto.

**Inspiration:** _Kiseki_ by Koda Kumi, _Fall iNTo DozE_ by move, _Color of Soul_ by Koda Kumi, _I'm Not Alone_ by Crystal Kay, _Puppy Love_ by Bennie K Feat. Gipper (Nora), _Beautiful_ by Round Table Feat. Nino, _My Boy_ by BoA, _Make a Secret_ by BoA, _Yuki's Room_ by Yuki of Bennie K, _I Love You_ by Namie Amuro, _STEP you_ by Ayumi Hamasaki, and _ALIVE_ by SOUL'd OUT. Also, I've been reading a lot more SasuHina than ever before! **mI.ShOE's** _Addicted_ was especially wonderful inspiration, so go read it!

* * *

_**Her Light to His Shadow**_

**_Chapter 3: _**Classes with Whom?

Two glorious days of no missions had come and gone since the meeting with the other teams had occurred, but the next morning had already taken Hyuuga Hinata by surprise. Now sitting up on her bed torpidly, svelte hands rubbed creamy eyes dreamily as she permitted a tiny yawn to escape from parted lips. A glance towards the sole window in her room quickly informed her that evidently, the sun had woken up way before she had.

She couldn't even begin attempting to hide the small smile that was already peeking through slim cheeks. Now, when was the last time that _that_ had happened? Ambling indolently towards the nearest bathroom in the vast Hyuuga manor, she decided to bathe as quickly as she could with the intention of getting out of the estate before breakfast.

Switching on the faucet and allowing the warm water to course down slightly pale skin, she could safely assume that life had been going smoothly these days. Although she generally took pleasure in the numerous assignments Tsunade bestowed on her team (it wasn't such a rarity to go on missions without Kurenai-sensei anymore; the woman now accompanied them on only particularly risky and perilous tasks), the bashful kunoichi was certainly appreciative of a short break now and then. She wasn't entirely certain if she was elated about the fact that she and the boys would probably be doing nothing but trivial missions from now until the spring of next year, but for now, she was content in just being able to stay in Konoha in peace for a few months.

She was just stepping out of the bathroom, trying to towel-dry wet hair that flopped halfway down her back, when it hit her. Things were _not_ okay anymore; how could she have thought that for even a second? She could deal with Kiba's overexertion of power during a mission, she could cope with Shino's sometimes infuriatingly mysterious demeanor; but deal with her own cousin for a mere two hours she could not even think of doing.

And Neji was just one problem, she reflected, biting her lip lightly as the other difficult shinobi soon came into mind. What about Sasuke? Yes, she would admit that she did not know him well enough to place such harsh stereotypes on him; but from what she had heard and seen from a safe distance, she'd understood that he was not a very affable person.

Then again, she'd never comprehended why the entire female population of Konoha (at least, those who were her age) was infatuated with him, even after everything that'd happened with him and his foiled revenge that apparently, he would never be able to fully exact. All of those whispered murmurings she'd heard in town about him – of how he valued his goals for vengeance over his own teammates, of how he refused to care about a single soul around him…she just couldn't grasp the logic the other girls had. They were aware of these same personality traits the Uchiha bore, so how could they – how could _anyone_ – have feelings for him?

Simply put, Uchiha Sasuke was just one conundrum she did not wish to figure out.

Fully clad in her usual training outfit, she exited her bedroom with the intention of heading downstairs as quickly as humanly possible; slender, fit legs aided her in creeping past the Hyuuga kitchen without being detected. Upon her departure from the bathroom, she'd made up her mind to go without breakfast today. She had her justifications for doing so; sneaking momentary gazes at the numerous household servants that were frequenting the vast hallways, she came to the realization that either her sister or her father was presently situated in the eating area – unsurprisingly, she did not desire to encounter any family member this morning.

Providentially for the demure kunoichi, her wish was fulfilled. She was able to safely avoid both of her immediate blood relations, exiting the grand mansion and situating herself at the minute garden behind the manor in no time at all. Cautiously kneeling down before the patch of land and clandestinely hoping no one would disturb her, she permitted creamy orbs to sweep over the sight of the numerous blossoms decorously adorning the rich, abundant soil with delight. An absent beam could be seen creeping on a porcelain face as she gently allowed a lithe finger to play with the stubby petals of a particularly young bud. Having noticed the tiny sprout peeking out from the earth on the eve of her sixteenth birthday, she'd promptly assumed the role of its caretaker, informing the servants that they need not strive for watering or tending to the plants any longer. In all actuality, she really hadn't had a valid explanation for her actions; just being conscious in the fact that it was unique enough to have been born the day before her birthday had provided enough reason for her to want to watch over it with the loving intuition only a mother could bear.

Plentiful training sessions and frequent, lengthy missions had prevented her from periodically checking up on its progress, but each time she was at home and was confident that she would stay there for a long period of time, she made certain to certify that the tiny blossom was still alive and accounted for among the other flowers in her garden. She, however, wasn't able to determine its species as of yet – it appeared to mature rather differently than those around it – and although she'd been increasingly disheartened to see that it wasn't developing much, she'd learned to accept its slow growth. Her unwavering belief was that it would soon become more beautiful than its neighbors if it was given the proper time and painstaking care needed for it to mature.

She longed to be able to discern its genus; for now, however, she would wait until she could delight herself with its scent first. Rising up from her spot slowly, as if she were in a faraway trance, she dusted herself off thoroughly and took one last glance at the mysterious sprout before turning around and heading out of the Hyuuga grounds.

Walking down the dusty road by herself, a sylphlike hand gently went into her pouch and unearthed a crumpled list of electives she had decided upon the night before. Her milky eyes pensively swept over each of the four classes she'd selected, and she couldn't help but wonder if she'd been right in her choices. She didn't particularly enjoy mathematics (in truth, she happened to deem it an unnecessarily laborious and demanding subject), but the childlike part of her essence still desired for Kurenai-sensei to remain her teacher. To a certain extent, the stoic woman had been somewhat akin to a mother-figure these past four years they'd trained together; it soon became a regularity for the young kunoichi to instinctively depend on the jounin to shower her with the implicit affection her own family had neglected to give her. It had grown to the point wherein the Hyuuga had almost forgotten her recurrent agony about never having been acquainted with her birth mother; as long as Kurenai-sensei, Shino, and even Kiba were present with her, living wasn't insufferable.

…Shino and Kiba. Still deep in thought, she couldn't help but ponder about which classes her teammates had opted for. Unsurprisingly, she knew that they both might have selected the Biology course with Kakashi-sensei, so she'd gone for the same class. Perhaps the emotionless jounin would focus on botany, as well as animals, in his course syllabus. Realizing that she was also a bit intrigued at the possibility of picking up the basics of a few unfamiliar dialects, she'd also picked the General Languages course, as well as the General Grammar one. In all veracity, the problem of her scheduling process had been more of which fourth course (which would undoubtedly be a math one) was the least challenging out of them all. After hours of mentally deliberating with herself, she'd decided on Algebra to be her last selection, especially since it appeared to be less troubling than Geometry and Calculus.

Her mind reverting to the most significant matter at hand, she cringed slightly at the considerable amount of people currently gathered around Gai-sensei's training spot. Both of her teammates were standing a little off to the side, closely accompanied by Team Asuma's. Glancing from the anxious but determined blue orbs of Yamanaka Ino to the warm but apathetic chocolate eyes of Tenten, she wondered why they were all here. Had all the chuunin opted for the General Grammar course?

Thinking back on the blonde kunoichi's question yesterday, however, presented her with an acceptable answer. Perhaps they were all furtively afraid of getting their tongues chopped off in distant lands…

She soon noticed the absence of a third person from Kakashi-sensei's unit. It seemed evident that Uchiha Sasuke hadn't selected this class, or perhaps he didn't deem it important to show up at all. She couldn't help but allow the dark-eyed monsters of indifference to obscure her thoughts. It wasn't such a bad thing that he was missing; if anything, his lack of appearance this morning would make things slightly easier for her. She would only have to avoid just one training partner before the actual sessions began, and that was her cousin.

…But then, warily glancing over at Tenten's general direction again, she noted that Neji wasn't present, either. The same went for Nara Shikamaru of Ino's group…perhaps another class was going on at the moment. That would provide an explanation of why her team was the only one with all three of its subordinates present and accounted for, unless Shikamaru, Neji, and Sasuke had all taken ill today. Shaking the aforementioned folly out of her thoughts almost as soon as it had permeated into her mind, she couldn't help but inwardly mope on what was going to happen later on that afternoon. Why had Kurenai-sensei recommended her for these special training sessions?

"Hey, Hinata!" Kiba, waving from the distance, brought her back into the world she had wandered so easily from. Judging by the strained tones in which he had voiced her name; she reckoned that Kurenai-sensei had once again forbid him from taking Akamaru with him. But she couldn't blame their teacher – after all, the canine had grown considerably large over the years. He was no longer an adorably cute puppy; he was even large enough to switch roles with Kiba – the shinobi wasn't ever seen around town without being carried by his faithful dog. "…Over here!"

Smiling sincerely, she quickly joined her teammates and replaced her list of courses back into her pocket as she absently greeted them both. "Good morning, Kiba and Shino…I hope you are both doing well…" Moving her gaze elsewhere, creamy eyes lit up at the sight of a certain blond shinobi arguing with his teammate for the millionth time that week. Ostensibly, Naruto was in the same class as she, Shino, and Kiba – it pleased her to no end. Just seeing him in his exuberant temperament was akin to a warm fire warming up joints on a particularly chilly day.

Someone's voice broke her off from her pleasing thoughts, prompting her to turn and face whoever it was that had spoken. "…Hinata, which classes did you pick?" inquired her usually silent teammate out of plain curiosity. "I was just checking with _him_-" Here, he jerked an apathetic thumb towards an indignant Kiba- "only to find out that we'd both selected the same things. Which is rather unfortunate, if you ask me-"

"Look, _buddy_," Kiba stressed the last word with such a biting and sarcastic tone that made the Hyuuga heiress flinch in her place, "I'm not in a good mood today, if you haven't guessed already. This whole thing is stupid, I mean, who really needs to learn all this trash?" Mumbling dispirited incoherencies underneath his breath, he proceeded to circle around his startled team members. "…I don't even know what Akamaru would do, anyway…it's not like he'd bite someone, if that's what she's so afraid of…"

Shino, having regained his composure a bit faster than Hinata, presently shrugged at the Inuzuka. Kiba had been consistently displaying this irritating behavior ever since Kurenai-sensei had shown up earlier and informed him that he couldn't have Akamaru accompany him anymore (to thwart any distractions he might receive from the canine's presence), right before she'd disappeared and missed the furious shinobi's rants. "It's useless to keep griping about things you can't change, Kiba. You're wasting your breath, if you ask me."

The aforesaid ninja bristled in his unstilted rage – if anything, the bug-nin had been exasperating him even more than his sensei had. All of his indifferent but snide remarks, his assumed superiority, and the way he seemed to effortlessly go through tasks without complaining; just thinking of the smirk the Aburame indubitably had concealed behind both the sunglasses and the trench coat seemed to drive Kiba mad. "Well, guess what, Shino? No one's asking you!"

Hinata reluctantly winced as she stood between the verbal disputes. It wasn't necessary for her team members to act so hostile towards each other so early in the day, to be frank; she couldn't help but furtively wonder why Shino was acting so pessimistic. Figuring that the Aburame probably expressed a secret desire to get these abnormal training sessions out of the way with the hopes that he could become a jounin as soon as possible, however, gave her an idea. Turning to face both of them, she uttered her plead as nicely as she could possibly muster. "C-Calm down, will you? Everything will be a bit more tolerable if we can stick together…" She dug into her pocket once more to retrieve the crumpled list of classes, handing it over to Shino. "Here's my schedule."

Unfolding the paper with the intention of viewing its contents, said shinobi scanned over it distastefully before endeavoring to hand it back to its rightful owner. "…You sure you can't change some of these, Hinata?"

Creamy abysses were now gazing at him, sincerely puzzled. "What do you mean?" She made an attempt to accept her schedule from him, but Kiba had quickly snatched it from Shino's grasp. Emitting a surprised squeak, she tried not to look frightened as the critical frown on the dog-nin's face grew deeper and deeper within each second of his reading of her classes. This didn't look good, not in the least-

Kiba had since exchanged his irritated mood for a pitying one, shaking his head in what could be perceived as sympathy while he handed the schedule over to the demure kunoichi. "Yeah, Hinata…besides Biology and this stupid excuse for a class, you don't have any of our classes." He scratched his cheek and stared at her pensively, deep in thought. "Maybe you should ask Kurenai-sensei if you could switch out of Algebra-"

The bemused look on the heiress's countenance had subsided once she became conscious in their true intentions. A heavy blush soon took its place as she realized that they were merely concerned for her wellbeing. "Don't worry; I'll be f-fine." Seeing their faces darken even more so gave her the painful realization that they were genuinely unconvinced of her fabricated response. She would admit to herself that being in classes without them was downright terrifying; but on the other hand, she'd done so much without either of the two shinobi by her side. She would survive, at least until her private training sessions later on that day…

The alarming sound of someone clearing his throat smoothly snatched her away from her contemplations. Gai-sensei had appeared out of thin air, and clapped his hands together in an expert fashion. "Good morning, you all! Let's get this show on the road! Get seated so we can get started!" Seemingly oblivious to many of the exasperated groans and grievances currently being uttered by the majority of the chuunin in reply to his exuberance, he eagerly motioned to the stragglers of the group, Naruto and Kiba. "C'mon, you two! We really don't have _any_ time for all this slowness…"

Having been the first to be seated, Lee seemed irked at the way a heavy-eyed Naruto grudgingly complied with his sensei's orders. Despite Tenten's cautionary glances, he uttered his thoughts aloud. "You heard him, Naruto. Hurry it up!" Truth be told, people like Naruto were bound to bring the entire class down if they didn't plan on sharing his revered teacher's enthusiasm. He frowned as the blond chuunin obliviously seated himself between his pink-haired teammate and Neji's bashful cousin. As long as he wasn't attempting to strike up a suave conversation with Sakura, things were fine with him.

If she hadn't been flushing already, the creamy apples of the Hyuuga's cheeks colored brightly upon noting the presence of a certain Uzumaki. She couldn't even begin to fathom her unbelievable luck – this was wonderful! Shifting uncomfortably within her spot, she struggled to refrain from biting down her lower lip as she finally addressed him while Gai-sensei proceeded to discuss the class's syllabus. "Hello, N-Naruto…"

Said chuunin indolently stifled yet another loud yawn before turning to glance at the kunoichi who had just spoken to him. Sluggish blue orbs didn't seem to delve far into buoyant white ones, however. "Oh. Hey, Hinata. What's up?" He raised a tanned hand to his mouth once again and awaited her response.

Presumably, some of the chuunin besides Lee were trying their best to pay heed to Gai's course outline. From where she sat behind the blond, Ino tapped his shoulder with a strong finger and scowled at him. "You're _so_ rude, Naruto. If anyone, _you_ should be the one making sure your tongue doesn't get cut off…" She heaved a sigh noisily as she moved her concentration from Naruto to Chouji, who was presently stuffing his face, as usual. Normally Shikamaru would intervene with his own wry remark; what was the point of sitting here when she had become so accustomed to his petty grievances? To add to her problems, _Sasuke_ wasn't here…

Although the blonde kunoichi had indirectly stolen Naruto's immediate interest, Hinata sat in her spot, milky orbs seeing past Gai-sensei's bouncy figure. A dreamy smile splashed with oblivious bliss was seen sprinkled about her flushing countenance; her creamy eyes sparkled with a pristine light from the sudden bout of pleasure she'd just experienced. Shino and Kiba, who were situated on her other side, eyed her dubiously before turning away, but nothing could dampen her spirits as of now.

Even though she'd caught their uncertainties displayed so overtly in their glances, she could've cared less.

…Nothing could spoil her present state of mind.

On the contrary, Uchiha Sasuke felt that _everything_ was tampering with his mental state. He'd purposely skipped out on attending his first class simply because he didn't feel like it. Chances were that he _wasn't_ going to feel like it for a good while, but he'd make himself go soon enough. Besides, he'd wanted some time off from everything around him – some time away from society and civilization, namely. Rather than walking with Naruto and Sakura to Gai-sensei's training area, he'd opted for just leaning back on a sturdy tree's trunk deep within the forest – a place where no one would even fathom him to be. It was all for good reason, naturally. He honestly didn't know if there would be another opportunity for him to be able to have himself as his own company in the months to follow.

Shutting his eyes temporarily with the intention of catching the few winks of sleep he hadn't managed to obtain the evening before, he strove to purge the thoughts currently sullying his mind. A deep scowl soon graced his handsome features afresh when he noted just how eerily the quiet seemed, however, and his dark eyes forced themselves open. …This, like so many other things in life, was meaningless. There really wasn't any real point behind this new program the Hokage had just seemingly concocted out of nowhere. He frowned and rose up from where he'd just been leaning.

…It was time to take a long walk.

Someone else's soft breathing could be discerned not far from where the Uchiha had been located. Eyes tightly shut with the intentions of delving into deep meditation, Hyuuga Neji had, unlike Sasuke, achieved some semblance of control over his thoughts. On the other hand, he, _like_ the sole survivor, had purposely skipped the training sessions to catch up on his own personal training. The tangible notion of training alongside his younger cousin had revolted him more than anything else; he too did not look forward to Hatake Kakashi's extra training gatherings later on in the afternoon.

Speaking of Hinata…he was fully aware of the hushed discussions about him as he walked about the village (albeit he was accompanied with Lee and Tenten). He knew how they felt about him; he was completely conscious about the way _she_ felt about him. Having since understood the general agreement that he should strive to be more considerate to her, even after hearing the real truth about his father's tragic demise years ago, it was a shame that the Branch House Hyuuga still harbored some sort of abhorrence towards the diffident heiress. Hinata had tried to create some appearance of desiring to patch things up with them, but the situation wasn't bound to change.

He had promised himself, at an earlier date and time, that he could not afford to associate with weaklings. Yes, she had certainly grown emotionally and physically stronger within the past few years; he would not deny it. Yes, there were times wherein he'd allowed her amiability to implicitly affect him and even make him think guiltily about his past transgressions towards her. And yes, he would live to protect her, as was his duty; however, his reviled role did not require a necessity to befriend his cousin.

As long as she stayed away from him, he would stay at peace. Regrettably, there was no method in the entire universe to prevent her from meeting with him.

In the meanwhile, Nara Shikamaru lazily stretched from his temporary napping position, keeping one eye open as he gazed at the clouds above numbly. Having felt that it was just too bothersome to have woken up so early in the morning, he'd opted for purposely missing his first class with Gai. Unlike Neji and Sasuke, however, he felt that the class was probably beneficial to his future as an esteemed shinobi; lacking the motivation required seemed to have exacerbated the situation.

He opened his other eye and was deliberately silent for a couple of minutes, paying no heed to the random chirpings of the forest birds from above. In a few moments, he received his answer. Based on the moronic grumblings (Kiba and Naruto, he reputed) emanating from the area not sixty meters from where he himself was situated, class had let out. Most of the chuunin were probably heading out to some mathematics course with Kurenai-sensei right about now.

Algebra didn't sound as irritating as General Grammar (and he would furtively agree that the aforesaid kunoichi teaching the subject wasn't as troublesome as Gai-sensei), so he forced himself to rise up from his spot, stretched indolently, and began his way to Team Kurenai's training spot.

**Ten minutes later…**

Because the amount of students opting for arithmetic had been drastically cut in half (Lee, Chouji, Kiba, and Shino had all gone their separate ways to head out to Asuma-sensei), the only real addition to the party seemed to be a rather apathetic Shikamaru, Hinata shortly noted, watching him take a severe verbal assault from an enraged blonde without any real retaliation. She wondered where he could have been, taking her seat beside Sakura as she waited for Kurenai to personally deliver her own set of instructions regarding her class. Fortunately, her sensei seemed to be more organized than Gai had (the latter had spent the majority of his time blatantly fawning over his most treasured student, Lee). To ameliorate the situation (or would it possibly make things worse?), Kakashi-sensei had showed up, as well. Forever reading his debased novel, he took his seat behind Naruto and didn't utter a single word.

Even with Sakura currently bragging about how she'd managed to take every single course except for History in Literature and Ino continuing her assertive tirades at present, everyone was generally subdued. Rising up from where she'd sat just a few minutes ago, Kurenai cleared her throat somberly, and all chatter was eradicated.

"Since today's the very first day we're all meeting, I won't teach. Instead, I'll discuss the other things you'll need to learn before you head out on this journey in a few months' time. In addition to scholastic necessities, you'll need to be aware of domestic ones, as well. For example, some of you will have to learn how to prepare food for the others," she started, placing a svelte hand into her pouch for the list of names she'd compiled specially for the occasion, "and that was drawn completely at random. It's for those of you boys who like to think that the girls will be cooking for you all, of course."

Sakura sat up excitably and beamed, allowing Inner Sakura to do the majority of the talking. **_'You tell 'em, girlfriend!'_**

"Now, proportionally speaking, only four of you will need to learn how to cook well," the dark-haired sensei continued, "and we've decided to randomly pick this four. Once your name has been read, remember that you must report to extra sessions with me at twelve o' clock each day." She unfolded the paper and proceeded to read off of it in a humorless tone. "We have Hyuuga Hinata, Nara Shikamaru, Uzumaki Naruto, and Yamanaka Ino."

Glaring at Kurenai, an enraged Naruto leapt to his feet and aimed a rude finger towards her, startling everyone else in the process. "Just what are you on, lady? I can't cook for everyone!"

Kakashi had risen up from his spot as well, and now took his time in emotionlessly knocking his subordinate upside the head. Removing his eyes from where they'd been plastered on his book, he spoke apologetically to the miffed kunoichi. "Ignore him, Kurenai. I'm afraid that he still hasn't been housebroken after all this time…"

Hinata couldn't control her tiny giggles as Naruto uttered a short yell of complaint and rubbed at the back of his head, while Kurenai stared indifferently from said subordinate to his sensei before turning to indulge in her true curriculum for her mathematics electives. Evidently, learning wouldn't end up to be so trying at all – there was yet another opportunity for her to see Naruto each day. Things were truly brightening up.

In the intervening time, a pink-haired kunoichi deemed it as good a time as any to begin gloating to her blonde former friend. Smirking snidely, she voiced her insult as loudly as possible to the infuriated Yamanaka, who was reddening more and more within the next few seconds. "I always knew your place was behind kitchen doors, piggy!"

Shikamaru groaned as his chagrined teammate leaned over to where Sakura was with the clear intention of delving into more petty arguments. Apparently, he'd certainly made the wrong decision in actually bothering to show up. At times like these, he'd actually prefer to spend time watching Chouji eat his snacked goods parsimoniously than listen to Ino's grievances against Sakura. Then again, he was about to encounter more food than he wanted to in the months to come, thanks to this random drawing of names…

"This is bound to be a lot more troublesome than it's worth…"

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**Ending Note:** I decided to cut this chapter short, simply because it was getting too long as it is. I'm used to writing twenty-paged chapters, but I think I'll refrain from doing that this time around. Besides, I'm sure some of you would scream if this wasn't updated sooner. Again, I apologize for that! I've just been having family issues at home.

Funny; only one person wanted a gift from me, and that was the graphic art. I'm sorry, but that offer's now closed. But I want to take the time to thank each and every one of you for reviewing. I've noticed something – SasuHina reviewers/writers are like one huge, happy family. We all read each other's stories; we review each other; we support each other; no one lurks… We _are_ a family!

Remember, the pairings among the chuunin will be as follows: SasuHina, NaruSaku, ShikaIno, and NejiTen. I will admit that I like the KibaHina, NejiHina, ShikaTema, and NejiIno pairings (as well as any crack pairings with Tenten or Hinata); however, I will not be putting these pairings in this fic. Also, I hate NaruHina. I hate it even more than SasuSaku.

Hmm…I've shown NaruSaku already. Let's see if I can put some ShikaIno and NejiTen in the next chapter, as well as SasuHina. Please review, as always! It was my birthday yesterday! XD My Sweet Sixteen! Reviews would be lovely at this time.

**Ladii-Chocolate**


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